Lots been going on since my last post and I haven't really had time to update on the Moody family, but I will in the near future. I will on the other hand let you know about the trip Josh is taking with 12 other people from our church to Haiti. There are 10 men, and 3 women going on the trip. Back in February, a couple of weeks after the earthquake, they went to Petionville (Port Au Prince), to help with food distribution, medical clinics, and evangelism. This time they will be going to an area a few hours north of Port Au Prince, called Petite Rivierre des Bayonnaise. It is near the larger city of Gonaives. They will be working with some area church plants, and at a school called Holy Bible School.
While they are there, they have several different tasks, that God willing, they will accomplish. One of the most important, is to install a water filtration system. It is a system from Living Waters for the World. This system is capable of producing 3000 gallons of clean water a day. This is huge considering this area has NEVER had access to clean water before.
With the introduction of clean water, another task will be to teach personal and community hygiene classes. The women going on the trip (Kandy Sanders, Mallory Hale, and Jenny Pierce) will be teaching these classes, focusing on cleanliness, disease prevention, etc. We take these simple things for granted, but if you have never had clean water until now, hygiene education can literally be life changing.
In addition, the men will be going alongside the local church to help roof a new church building. When I say church building, get images of American churches completely out of your head. Check out Jeremy's blog, http://gfbc-haiti-2010.blogspot.com/ , for pictures of the block walls they have put up so far. Please notice I said they are "going alongside" of the Haitians. This is not a bunch of American coming in to "save the day". The Haitians are doing the work, the team is simply serving them.
The men are going to teach some discipleship classes to anyone in the local community that wants to attend. I believe they are using For Your Joy by John Piper to teach from. They will also be able to take the audio Bibles called Proclaimers in Haitian Creole just like I got to take to Uganda in their language. I love how God uses all these things for His glory!
They will all be leaving from GFBC at 1:00am from the church to Atlanta. They will fly from there to Miami and then into Port au Prince. They should be in Port au Prince about 11AM local time. I will try to update you as much as I can. I don't know how well I will be able to talk to him.....just depends on phone service. Pray for the team physically, spiritually, and mentally. Pray for the people they will come into contact with, and the projects they are undertaking. More than anything else, pray for God to be glorified to the highest through whatever happens. Here are the list of people on the team.
Jeremy Sanders
Kandy Sanders
Sam Miller
Heath Kyle
Matthew Kyle
Richard Bradley
Mark Harrison
John Byars
Bryan Erbrick
Mallory Hale
Jenny Pierce
Raymond Shackleford
Josh Moody
"Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you...[that] all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" Genesis: 12:1,3
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
A long time coming
This post has been a long time coming and finally this past Sunday, God gave me confirmation to post it. Don't know why it's taken me so long. Maybe I have been scared as to what people would think. Maybe I've been scared to say it out loud not knowing what God will do. I feel I have no other choice but to share what God has been doing in our lives for some time now. You see I got involved in the Orphan Care Ministry of our church about a year ago not really knowing my real purpose there. God had been breaking my heart and allowing me to see with His eyes and heart to care for the orphans like in James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. I just remember knowing that I was supposed to be helping with this ministry.
Come November we were recognizing National Orphan Sunday and we all were really excited. We all had been praying for this day for sometime so that others would become aware to the number of children in the world that have lost their mother or father, are parentless, or have been abandoned and now exceeds 147 million! Lets just say this day was way more than we could have ever expected.......of course Jesus orchestrated it! There were people signing up to know more about Foster care and adoption, & sponsoring children worldwide.
That day was a day I will never forget. You see that day there was a table set up with necklaces and pictures of beautiful children. These children were from an orphanage in Uganda and could be sponsored monthly to help take care of the child's food, shelter and medical care along with many other of their basic needs. We decided to let our children pick out a child to sponsor as we explained to them why we were helping the home. Many of you know that the orphanage is Sonrise Baby Home and our sponsored child is Steven. When we got home that day they wrote notes to Steven which I still have that say, "Dear God we love Steven." You see that day God used Sonrise to touch the lives of our family in more ways than I can count. I could never thank Mandi Johnson and Amy Washington enough for allowing God to use them to change my family forever that day. They said yes to a call from God to bring awareness to the children of Sonrise. That day we put our faith in God with our money in a way we had never done before to take care of a child we had never seen before. That day God also touched my children's heart and allowed them to love a child they never met.
From this, God has worked on me like never before. He has opened my eyes to things that I would have never seen before. You see, if we were supposed to take care of the orphans then what was our roll in that? God was working on my heart about what we needed to do. I knew I felt this way, so did Josh feel the same way? In Psalm 68:5-6 it says A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. Yes, God was softening my heart towards adoption but I was scared to death. I guess what I was scared the most of is what everyone else would think and what my husband would say. Finally after bringing it up time after time, I asked him to pray about it. He didn't give it a second thought and said he would. Obviously God had been working on him too. After months of us both praying over these things we both came to the conclusion that God would have us adopt! What is it going to look like, I don't know. In fact it probably will get a bit messy. But I feel that if we are willing to get our hands dirty, trying to serve the least and the lost then God will show us the way. I would ask for you to pray that God "orders our steps" in this journey of our life.
Why adoption?
We feel God has called us to this as His way for us to take care of the orphan. We have become convicted and called out of our complete comfort to try and meet the needs of the fatherless. All God's children are just like us in need of a loving father. Adoption is the Gospel! Ephesians 1:5 In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-
Where?
We have chosen Uganda as a place to adopt. Again we feel God has called us here. Before I even visited this place, I was in love. My trip to this place only confirmed what God had placed in my heart. In Uganda alone there are 2.5 million orphans so we feel like this is a place where we are needed.
It costs so much!
It does cost a lot, but we feel that God can and will do anything if we are in His perfect will. He takes care of his children. Oh does he ever take care of his children! =)
Our family is already big!
I know go figure......God is funny sometimes. And our children, they already want to know when we are bringing our child home that God is giving us! This blesses our hearts beyond measure.
There are many things I don't know, but what I do know are these three things.....
1. God has a plan for every person!
2. God is always at work behind the scenes!
3. God uses us to accomplish His purpose!
Come November we were recognizing National Orphan Sunday and we all were really excited. We all had been praying for this day for sometime so that others would become aware to the number of children in the world that have lost their mother or father, are parentless, or have been abandoned and now exceeds 147 million! Lets just say this day was way more than we could have ever expected.......of course Jesus orchestrated it! There were people signing up to know more about Foster care and adoption, & sponsoring children worldwide.
That day was a day I will never forget. You see that day there was a table set up with necklaces and pictures of beautiful children. These children were from an orphanage in Uganda and could be sponsored monthly to help take care of the child's food, shelter and medical care along with many other of their basic needs. We decided to let our children pick out a child to sponsor as we explained to them why we were helping the home. Many of you know that the orphanage is Sonrise Baby Home and our sponsored child is Steven. When we got home that day they wrote notes to Steven which I still have that say, "Dear God we love Steven." You see that day God used Sonrise to touch the lives of our family in more ways than I can count. I could never thank Mandi Johnson and Amy Washington enough for allowing God to use them to change my family forever that day. They said yes to a call from God to bring awareness to the children of Sonrise. That day we put our faith in God with our money in a way we had never done before to take care of a child we had never seen before. That day God also touched my children's heart and allowed them to love a child they never met.
From this, God has worked on me like never before. He has opened my eyes to things that I would have never seen before. You see, if we were supposed to take care of the orphans then what was our roll in that? God was working on my heart about what we needed to do. I knew I felt this way, so did Josh feel the same way? In Psalm 68:5-6 it says A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. Yes, God was softening my heart towards adoption but I was scared to death. I guess what I was scared the most of is what everyone else would think and what my husband would say. Finally after bringing it up time after time, I asked him to pray about it. He didn't give it a second thought and said he would. Obviously God had been working on him too. After months of us both praying over these things we both came to the conclusion that God would have us adopt! What is it going to look like, I don't know. In fact it probably will get a bit messy. But I feel that if we are willing to get our hands dirty, trying to serve the least and the lost then God will show us the way. I would ask for you to pray that God "orders our steps" in this journey of our life.
Why adoption?
We feel God has called us to this as His way for us to take care of the orphan. We have become convicted and called out of our complete comfort to try and meet the needs of the fatherless. All God's children are just like us in need of a loving father. Adoption is the Gospel! Ephesians 1:5 In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-
Where?
We have chosen Uganda as a place to adopt. Again we feel God has called us here. Before I even visited this place, I was in love. My trip to this place only confirmed what God had placed in my heart. In Uganda alone there are 2.5 million orphans so we feel like this is a place where we are needed.
It costs so much!
It does cost a lot, but we feel that God can and will do anything if we are in His perfect will. He takes care of his children. Oh does he ever take care of his children! =)
Our family is already big!
I know go figure......God is funny sometimes. And our children, they already want to know when we are bringing our child home that God is giving us! This blesses our hearts beyond measure.
There are many things I don't know, but what I do know are these three things.....
1. God has a plan for every person!
2. God is always at work behind the scenes!
3. God uses us to accomplish His purpose!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Silence no more!!
I know people have been wondering why in the world I haven't written anything since my trip to Uganda. I mean come on there must be so much to share and so many things to tell, right? Well, the truth is there are sooo many stories to tell you and sooooo many small details that I want to let you in on, but since I've been back I've felt like words would never explain what I've experienced . There are also things that I am really unsure of right now, but I know in time God will show me. I've went through times of being sad, mad, confused and numb. I also have felt like I don't want to forget anything and if I spill it all out then it's gone. This has left me in a really weird place in my life. I go to bed wondering how these children's night was, because as I'm going down they are waking up. There also hasn't been a day since I left that I haven't woke up seeing those sweet brown faces. I've thought about Amina from the village and if she had something to eat as I ate my third meal of the day. Praise the Lord I've found out that Sonrise has now been able to take her in!! The mother in me wishes I could just do something for Betty who is sick all the time. I think about Steven and his family in the village. All of these things are just the tip of what runs through my mind and in the last couple of days God has been telling me something. My silence is doing nothing for these children and people of Uganda who need someone to speak up for them and defend their rights. Their stories need to be told so that people can become more aware. It's not about me, it's all about Him and I have to get over myself. Although I am being still and quiet and listening to what he wants me to do from here, I will tell their stories. I know there will be confusion sometimes, but he is sovereign and I want to do HIS will. So hopefully this has helped me break the silence but I first wanted to leave you with a video I took of the children at Sonrise Baby Home. They are dancing to a song which means they are flowers in the garden of Jesus! May we all strive to be better flowers in the garden of JESUS!!
*You may want to pause the music at the bottom of my page to watch the video*
*You may want to pause the music at the bottom of my page to watch the video*
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Update and picture
Hey guys. Just a quick update. The last day the crew is there, I finally learn to Skype. In case you don't know, if I "Skype call" to Kim's Ugandan cell phone, it is $0.15/minute. Otherwise, it's about $2.50/minute. In other news, this Sunday in church we will be taking a collection to pay my phone bills next month. Ha!!!
Just a couple of updates from yesterday, Kim said they did not finish the hut, but did get it framed. The villagers will then go back and fill in the "mud" for the remainder of the hut. Also, on Amina, there is a lot of paperwork that is required for her to be able to stay at Sonrise, and be cared for. Please continue to pray for God's Hand to be on this situation with this precious child.
Today, the team visited several other children's homes in the area. One was for special needs children. Another was strictly children that were HIV positive. Another was a home that Katie Davis with Amazima helps with. So they stayed busy.
When I talked to Kim they were getting ready for their farewell dinner tonight. She said it's a big deal to say goodbye in Uganda, and the staff is planning a big celebration.
I've mentioned this before, but wanted to reiterate it after talking to Kim a little while ago. Please be in prayer for the team's departure. Kim was crying about having to leave those babies. I'm sure the rest of the team feels exactly the same way. They've been there long enough to bond not only with the children, but also the nannies and staff, and saying goodbye will be very difficult for all involved. Although, God willing, it will not be the last time any of them see Sonrise again, it will still be hard. I think it's pretty safe to say that every one on that trip has seen God move over the last week and half in ways that they never imagined, and to have to leave where that took place is very difficult. I know she wants to see me and the girls, and everybody else wants to see their families as well, but I also know that a part of them will stay at Sonrise. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that this is only the beginning and that fires me up!
There flight leaves Entebbe at 9:05 a.m. local time (that will be 1:05 a.m. our time). They land in London around 10:00 a.m. our time tomorrow). From there they have about a 23 hour layover. I believe they plan on getting a hotel room to rest, get showers, and maybe sight see in London some before flying out Thursday at 11:00 our time. They will land in Atlanta at 6:00 (our time).
Oh yeah, and I wanted to throw in a picture she sent me from the birthday party yesterday!
Prayer points:
-Continue to pray for them emotionally as they leave
-Pray for on time flights, smooth travel, and no issues with baggage, etc.
-Pray for God to work out what needs to be done for baby Amina.
We love you guys!
Just a couple of updates from yesterday, Kim said they did not finish the hut, but did get it framed. The villagers will then go back and fill in the "mud" for the remainder of the hut. Also, on Amina, there is a lot of paperwork that is required for her to be able to stay at Sonrise, and be cared for. Please continue to pray for God's Hand to be on this situation with this precious child.
Today, the team visited several other children's homes in the area. One was for special needs children. Another was strictly children that were HIV positive. Another was a home that Katie Davis with Amazima helps with. So they stayed busy.
When I talked to Kim they were getting ready for their farewell dinner tonight. She said it's a big deal to say goodbye in Uganda, and the staff is planning a big celebration.
I've mentioned this before, but wanted to reiterate it after talking to Kim a little while ago. Please be in prayer for the team's departure. Kim was crying about having to leave those babies. I'm sure the rest of the team feels exactly the same way. They've been there long enough to bond not only with the children, but also the nannies and staff, and saying goodbye will be very difficult for all involved. Although, God willing, it will not be the last time any of them see Sonrise again, it will still be hard. I think it's pretty safe to say that every one on that trip has seen God move over the last week and half in ways that they never imagined, and to have to leave where that took place is very difficult. I know she wants to see me and the girls, and everybody else wants to see their families as well, but I also know that a part of them will stay at Sonrise. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that this is only the beginning and that fires me up!
There flight leaves Entebbe at 9:05 a.m. local time (that will be 1:05 a.m. our time). They land in London around 10:00 a.m. our time tomorrow). From there they have about a 23 hour layover. I believe they plan on getting a hotel room to rest, get showers, and maybe sight see in London some before flying out Thursday at 11:00 our time. They will land in Atlanta at 6:00 (our time).
Oh yeah, and I wanted to throw in a picture she sent me from the birthday party yesterday!
Prayer points:
-Continue to pray for them emotionally as they leave
-Pray for on time flights, smooth travel, and no issues with baggage, etc.
-Pray for God to work out what needs to be done for baby Amina.
We love you guys!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Winding down.....
Hey everybody! Unfortunately I didn't get to talk to Kim today, but our friend Tammy (whom I owe her and her husband SEVERAL steak dinners) did get to, so the information I have is passed on. When she spoke with Kim she said physically they were all spent! They built the hut in the village today. From what I gathered, the use of power tools isn't quite as rampant in Uganda as it is in the U.S. Apparently they will all be sporting some blisters, torn up hands, and sore bodies when they get back to us in a few days. I believe they got it finished though. And Kim and the ladies found out that carrying buckets of water on your head is much harder than it appears (please, Lord, let there be pictures) They also threw the birthday party for the babies. She said they all had blast. The kids loved it!!!!
The big news of the day was Amina. (Sorry, I'm not sure if Amina is a boy or girl.) But this baby was brought to Sonrise, because she (I'm going with she) was severely malnourished. The father is in prison, and the mother basically left the baby with the villagers for them to care for her. In desperate poverty, they obviously can't take care of the baby as needed. So they brought her to Damali. (Again, please remember this information is being passed on from the other side of the world, so please bear with me on the details.) I don't have many details of the condition of the child, but I did understand that she was not well.
Above is a very tragic story, but it's one that happens literally every hour of everyday all over the world. We don't really have to think about it, because it's not constantly in our face. But to be perfectly honest, I just did the readers of this blog a huge disservice by disclosing that information. No longer will any of us will be able to stand before God one day and say "My bad, God, I had no idea." So the question is, what do you do? What will you do? Continue to look the other way or live out Matthew 10:42 where Jesus says, "And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward." ? Will you reach out to the "least of these" who are abandoned by their own parents, or continue to build up treasures that won't last? Will you love the fatherless or continue to build bigger barns (Luke 12:16-21)? Give more than you think you can give. Love more than you think you can love.
Prayer points:
-Pray for God to bring baby Amina back to health.
-Pray that the staff will be equipped to care for her.
-Pray for a "sponsor" quickly for Amina if they can take her in.
-Pray for a smooth "final" day for the team tomorrow.
-Pray that God will prepare them emotionally for leaving Sonrise on Wednesday.
-Continue to pray for Amy and the Washington family as she remains at the home.
The big news of the day was Amina. (Sorry, I'm not sure if Amina is a boy or girl.) But this baby was brought to Sonrise, because she (I'm going with she) was severely malnourished. The father is in prison, and the mother basically left the baby with the villagers for them to care for her. In desperate poverty, they obviously can't take care of the baby as needed. So they brought her to Damali. (Again, please remember this information is being passed on from the other side of the world, so please bear with me on the details.) I don't have many details of the condition of the child, but I did understand that she was not well.
Above is a very tragic story, but it's one that happens literally every hour of everyday all over the world. We don't really have to think about it, because it's not constantly in our face. But to be perfectly honest, I just did the readers of this blog a huge disservice by disclosing that information. No longer will any of us will be able to stand before God one day and say "My bad, God, I had no idea." So the question is, what do you do? What will you do? Continue to look the other way or live out Matthew 10:42 where Jesus says, "And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward." ? Will you reach out to the "least of these" who are abandoned by their own parents, or continue to build up treasures that won't last? Will you love the fatherless or continue to build bigger barns (Luke 12:16-21)? Give more than you think you can give. Love more than you think you can love.
Prayer points:
-Pray for God to bring baby Amina back to health.
-Pray that the staff will be equipped to care for her.
-Pray for a "sponsor" quickly for Amina if they can take her in.
-Pray for a smooth "final" day for the team tomorrow.
-Pray that God will prepare them emotionally for leaving Sonrise on Wednesday.
-Continue to pray for Amy and the Washington family as she remains at the home.
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